The Parthenon, Delphi and other heritage sites will generate revenue as sets for ads, films and other promotions. Some modern Greeks find this unsavory. Yet, 2,500 years ago similar measures were taken by Greeks confronting an earlier financial crisis. “Pericles would no doubt admire modern Greeks for using cherished relics to bootstrap themselves out of crisis. So would Thucydides, Pericles’ great fan and chronicler. Both men were modernists and pragmatists, willing to regard even a sacred shrine as a revenue stream. In tough times, they understood, a brave nation does what must be done.”

The Parthenon, Delphi and other heritage sites will generate revenue as sets for ads, films and other promotions. Some modern Greeks find this unsavory. Yet, 2,500 years ago similar measures were taken by Greeks confronting an earlier financial crisis. “Pericles would no doubt admire modern Greeks for using cherished relics to bootstrap themselves out of crisis. So would Thucydides, Pericles’ great fan and chronicler. Both men were modernists and pragmatists, willing to regard even a sacred shrine as a revenue stream. In tough times, they understood, a brave nation does what must be done.”

“Are people getting dumber?” Not according to four of five experts. Based on IQ tests, “the average person today would be 30 points above his or her grandparents, so we are not getting any dumber.” And yet, the increasing pace of complexity leaves many feeling left behind and technology has dulled some skills, like mathematics or spelling, once taken for granted. Moreover, “the really dumb things that people do…get amplified almost instantaneously” thanks to the internet. Still, we are far more advanced in terms of “abstract reasoning: the ability to ignore appearances and reckon in formal categories.”

“Are people getting dumber?” Not according to four of five experts. Based on IQ tests, “the average person today would be 30 points above his or her grandparents, so we are not getting any dumber.” And yet, the increasing pace of complexity leaves many feeling left behind and technology has dulled some skills, like mathematics or spelling, once taken for granted. Moreover, “the really dumb things that people do…get amplified almost instantaneously” thanks to the internet. Still, we are far more advanced in terms of “abstract reasoning: the ability to ignore appearances and reckon in formal categories.”

“What if the euro survives the present economic crisis but the European Union—or even the United Kingdom—doesn’t?” Britain’s famed historian Norman Davies believes there’s no reason to assume countries and institutions will endure. His recent book, Vanished Kingdoms, is enjoying widespread popularity and offers “a bracing tour of Europe’s cemetery of dead nation-states, fallen empires and collapsed duchies.” Davies believes both the UK and EU could unravel. The former will soon face a vote for independence by Scotland. The latter has yet to address the fundamental issues: “They forgot to answer important questions about EU governance—that little matter of whether Europe would need a more integrated political union before it could have a currency union, for instance.”

Advanced economies have gone backwards by a decade as a result of the crisis.” Looking at seven indicators of economic health, The Economist concludes Greece’s economic clock was turned back 12 years, America’s by ten years, and Britain’s by eight years as a result of the 2007 financial crisis.

“Japan has somehow managed to creep by with its problems untouched.” Will Japan’s “happy depression” end as the Greek crisis settles down? Jim O’Neil of Goldman Sachs believes there’s reason to worry. “Japan’s outstanding debt to gross domestic product stands at a whopping 230 per cent and makes Greece’s latest 120 per cent by 2020 target seem like a picnic by comparison.”“Japan has somehow managed to creep by with its problems untouched.” Will Japan’s “happy depression” end as the Greek crisis settles down? Jim O’Neil of Goldman Sachs believes there’s reason to worry. “Japan’s outstanding debt to gross domestic product stands at a whopping 230 per cent and makes Greece’s latest 120 per cent by 2020 target seem like a picnic by comparison.”

“China could face an economic crisis unless it implements deep reforms, including scaling back its vast state-owned enterprises and making them operate more like commercial firms.” A soon-to-be released report, titled “China 2030,” also warns that “China’s growth is in danger of decelerating rapidly and without much warning.” The report indicates that China, like Brazil and Mexico, will face a “middle-income trap,” which tends to snare developing countries that reach a threshold income level.

“China could face an economic crisis unless it implements deep reforms, including scaling back its vast state-owned enterprises and making them operate more like commercial firms.” A soon-to-be released report, titled “China 2030,” also warns that “China’s growth is in danger of decelerating rapidly and without much warning.” The report indicates that China, like Brazil and Mexico, will face a “middle-income trap,” which tends to snare developing countries that reach a threshold income level.

“This planet is a more dangerous place now that the isolated and dictatorial government of North Korea has perhaps a dozen nuclear bombs. That danger will multiply if the belligerent and theocratic government of Iran, too, develops nukes. Either nation, with launchable nuclear bombs, qualifies as an existential threat to U.S. allies, including Israel and South Korea. What’s more, the prospect of Tehran or Pyongyang slipping small nukes to anti-U.S. terror networks is too unnerving for many among us to contemplate.”

Free speech is under assault in Ecuador. Ecuador’s largest newspaper was ordered to pay a $42 million criminal libel judgment by the nation’s highest court. The ruling is the latest in a string of suspicious rulings apparently orchestrated by President Rafael Correa. “The United States and other democracies need to loudly protest Mr. Correa’s assault on a free press and his cynical hijacking of Ecuador’s judicial system.”

“A silver lining” of the financial crises is prison reform. “Inflexible sentencing policies…made the United States the world’s leading jailer” and resulted in unsustainable spending. New York is providing an example of a more sustainable alternative. “By reforming its sentencing laws to eliminate or substantially reduce prison terms for nonviolent offenders” and increasing credits for good time served, New York has reduced its prison population by nearly 2%.

Overcapacity is plaguing European automakers. EU sales have dropped four straight years and are expected to decrease again this year. A price war, with discounts of up to 30%, has resulted as car makers struggle to sell units. “As the firms’ bosses face up to the need for big capacity cuts, the politicians must resist back-seat driving.” Some factories will need to be closed and some production work shifted overseas.

Overcapacity is plaguing European automakers. EU sales have dropped four straight years and are expected to decrease this year. A price war, with discounts of up to 30%, has resulted as car makers struggle to sell units. “As the firms’ bosses face up to the need for big capacity cuts, the politicians must resist back-seat driving.”